Lies Once Told, Love Once Given
by Gillian Leigh
Summary: A teenage girl’s world falls apart, and her mother’s begins to fall back together. Some ScullyOther in the beginning. Eventual MSR
1. Part I

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given 

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

**Author's Notes: I apologize for the initial Scully/Other, but trust me, there WILL be MSR. (You know I can't write a fic with no MSR!!) **Oh and I've decided that for all intents and purposes, Skinner is Maggie Scully's husband, and yes, I am DEFINITELY in favor of that pairing, so you'll see it often.

**SPECIAL Author's Note!!!:** Thanks to Caitlin {jinxd n cursed} for the title! I was scrapped for ideas and she came through with that one!!!

---------------------x---------------------  
            Liv Hollister had always wondered where she'd gotten her nose from. Two weeks after her fifteenth birthday, she got her answer. Sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor of her mother's bedroom, her sky blue eyes were wide in shock. A trembling hand covered her mouth as she stared at the various papers spread out in front of her. A single tear slid down her cheek as the world she knew came crashing down around her. 

--x--

            Dana Hollister entered her home with a clatter and a bang as the heel of her shoe caught on the floor mat just inside the door and her briefcase fell to the floor at the same time as her car keys slipped from her grasp.

            "Damn it," she swore under her breath, tucking a strand of her graying red hair behind her ear. She really needed to get her color touched up, she thought. "Olivia?" she called. Her voice almost echoed in the empty house-- a house too large for the two of them anymore. She was surprised when she received no response from her precocious and stereotypically rambunctious teenager. She glanced at her watch. 4:17. Liv should be home. She was the furthest thing from concerned at her daughter's absence, however. She often went next door to visit her grandmother, or down the street to visit her cousins or a friend. The neighbor hood was safe, and she trusted Liv's judgment. She knew that at some point in the course of the next hour she would find a note in an undoubtedly obscure location; her daughter never did leave them in the same place. She was a brilliant mind, but messy and scatterbrained like her father. Dana stopped herself at the thought of Liv's father, and a part of her shut down, unwilling to dwell in that area of thought. She shook her head. 

            With a yawn, Dana climbed the staircase to the second floor of her home and then into her study. Placing her briefcase on the desk, she found her attention drawn to the smiling Buddha statue on her desk beside her computer, bathed in the afternoon sunlight. 

            "What does it mean?" Dana jumped and turned around quickly to find her daughter standing in the doorway of the office. 

            "Jeez Liv, you scared me! I didn't think you were home. How was your day?" she asked. Her daughter's somber expression remained and her eyes were shining with tears. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" 

            "What does this mean?" Liv asked again as her mother stepped closer to her, concern in her eyes. Dana grasped her daughter's shaking wrist so she would be able to discern what it was that she held. Realization dawned on her, and Dana paled visibly. 

            "Where did you get this?" she asked in a whisper. Two sets of identical blue eyes locked. Ava faltered, knowing she had violated the privacy her mother valued so deeply, and the trust held along those same lines. "Where?" Dana prodded in a whisper. 

            "I-I was looking for your black stiletto boots. I knocked the box over and it opened. I-I looked through it. I'm sorry--I shouldn't have..."Liv sputtered. 

            "You're right; you shouldn't have. But you did, and now I owe you an explanation."

            "Why did you hide this?" Liv asked, holding the document Dana recognized as her birth certificate. Her mother was both heartbroken and ashamed. 

            "I didn't want you to find out this way."

            "Does this mean what I think it means?" Dana's eyes locked with those of her daughter again as she removed the birth certificate from her daughter's hand and held it in her own, studying the document with a furrowed brow. It was the moment of truth. 

            "Does this mean that Dave Hollister is not your father, but Fox Mulder is? Yes Liv," her mother said with a trembling sigh-- a product of fifteen years of guilt. "That is exactly what it means."

-----------------x----------------

A/N: Hey! Well, I'm back with another multi-chapter story in the works! Leave me a review or send an email to let me know what you think! {xxilovedavidduchovnyxx@yahoo.com}


	2. Part II

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part II

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

Author's Notes: I apologize for the initial Scully/Other, but trust me, there WILL be MSR. (You know I can't write a fic with no MSR!!) Oh, and since I'm begging for forgiveness already, let me apologize for the upcoming mention of Mulder/Other. And the Scully/Other comes to an end after this chapter!!!

----X------

            An angry, brokenhearted and betrayed Liv locked herself in her bedroom that afternoon and refused to speak to her mother. She hadn't even given her a chance to explain. Sitting on her window seat, she wrapped her arms around her bent legs and rested her chin on her knees. Her mind was a mess of emotions as she thought about the contents of that box. Her mother's written words continued to come back to her. As much as she knew it was wrong to rifle through her mother's belongings, she couldn't help dwelling on the idea that if she hadn't read the name on her birth certificate and some of those letters, she never would've known the truth. Closing her eyes she tried to imagine this man who was her real father. She tried to imagine what he might look like. Was he the reason her hair was dark auburn, nearly brown instead of red like her mother's? Did his facial features solve the mystery of her nose? Despite everything, she couldn't help but wonder why her mother had never spoken of him before. A tremble went through her as she contemplated a depressing possibility; what if he was dead?

            Dana was left to her memories. She sat cross-legged on her bed, re-reading one of the letters she had written almost sixteen years ago. Her tears fell freely as she read her own words. 

            _"Dear Mulder, _

_            Even as I write this letter, I don't know if I will have the courage to send it. I hope things are well with Jessica and that the two of you are as happy as you both deserve. There are so many things to tell you Mulder; so many things you need to know but I'm afraid to say. I don't want to ruin what you have now, Mulder, but I need to tell you this-- I'm pregnant, and the baby is yours. I'm due in February. Please don't feel obligated in any way... I'm writing to you to let you know the truth, not to convince you to come back or to ruin your marriage. I'm so sorry, Mulder. I can take care of myself and the baby, so I just wrote because I would feel horrible if I kept this from you..."_

Sniffling, Dana wiped her eyes and remembered agonizing whether or not to send that letter. She had finally decided against sending it and the dozens more she would write during the almost the full first two thirds of her pregnancy. When she met Dave, she stopped writing the letters for a while.

_Fifteen Years Earlier_

            List in hand, Dana Scully rose up on her toes the best she could and pulled a box of pasta off the shelf. Much to her dismay, three additional boxes toppled to the floor. She sighed, put her box in the shopping cart, and glanced down at her five-months-pregnant belly. This wasn't going to be easy. She bent her knees and kept one hand on the cart, praying that she didn't fall over. 

            "Here. I'll get it," a voice said. She looked up and her cheeks immediately reddened at the sight of the attractive brown-haired brown-eyed man before her who bent down and picked up the three boxes of pasta. He handed them to her. 

            "Thank you," she mumbled, feeling the color in her cheeks. "It's not so easy to move the way I used to..." He smiled at her and extended his hand as she slid the boxes back on the shelf.

            "Dave Hollister." 

            "Dana Scully," she said, shaking his hand. She noted that he wasn't wearing a wedding band, and then she remembered... Being pregnant was a big turn-off to most any eligible man. He was slightly shorter than Mulder, probably about 5'10" or 5'11", and very attractive. "Well," she said, pulling her hand from his. "Thank you again." He nodded. 

            "Not a problem." With that, they went their separate ways, and Dana headed to the register, wondering if he had noticed _her_ lack of wedding band. As she pushed her cart into the checkout lane, the baby kicked her, and she ran her hand over her protruding abdomen and said, 

            "I know baby; I know. You're hungry... I am too." 

            Once everything had been bagged and paid for, Dana attempted to balance a bag on each hip and hold her car keys and purse. Just when she was ready to turn and ask the cashier for help, a familiar voice said, 

            "I can help you with that." Dave Hollister stood before her. She arched a wary eyebrow and let him take a bag. She couldn't tell if his interest was out of pity or not, but she wasn't about to let her guard down. 

            "Thank you," she said, and then said, "Umm, why don't you follow me to my car?" He nodded. 

            "Sure." They exited the grocery store, and Dave kept an even pace with Dana as she led him to her Chrysler Concorde. She pushed the button on her remote and popped the trunk. Dave set his bag in the trunk and as he took Dana's from her and placed it in, he said, 

            "You know, married women who don't wear their wedding rings are very deceiving." Pushing the strap of her purse up on her shoulder, she crossed her arms and watched him warily. 

            "I'm not married, nor will I be any time soon. I'm not seeing anyone," she said quietly, fighting off the tears that came with the very thought. 

            "Well, then would you consider taking me up on an offer for dinner sometime?" Dave asked, smiling at her. She was totally certain he was just messing with her at that point in time. Her face grew stern and the walls rose higher. She could feel the Ice Queen surfacing.

            "Is this some kind of sick joke?" she snapped. Dave's happy expression faded, and he faltered. 

            "No, no of course--"

            "Who put you up to this, Dave? Are you getting some kind of sick thrill out of this? Out of exploiting a pregnant woman?" she asked, her eyes ablaze with fury. In a moment, her walls came crashing down as she let the hurt get to her, and her eyes filled with tears. "I'm not here to be someone's charity case." She turned away from him and stepped up to her driver's side door and fumbled with her key. She turned around when she felt Dave's hand on her shoulder and heard his voice. 

            "Dana, no one put me up to this," he said quietly. "I'm sorry if you thought that. When I saw you, I thought that you were beautiful, and I wanted to get to know you. I was afraid to approach you, because I noticed that you were with child, and I thought you were married. When I saw that you didn't have a wedding band or an engagement ring, I wanted to give it a shot. The dropped pasta just provided an opportunity to talk to you. I swear to you, Dana, no one put me up to this. Just give me a chance, please..." His eyes were pleading with her, and she wiped at her tears with the back of her hand, and then smiled. 

            "My number's in the book," she said, opening her door. 

            Dave smiled back, and then said, "So is mine." Easing her body into the driver's seat, Dana smiled, and said, 

            "Okay then. Thank you for helping me." 

            "Any time," he responded, and turned to walk away. After closing her door, Dana found herself smiling. Maybe she wouldn't always be alone.

-------x------- 

A/N: {Ducks to avoid flying objects} Please, for the love of God, don't kill me for the S/O in this chapter! Remember, I promised MSR, and I intend to fulfill my promise!


	3. Part III

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part Three

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

-------x-------

            "She found her birth certificate, Dave," Dana said over the phone as she paced the floor of her living room. 

            "How?" her ex-husband questioned, feeling a tightness in his chest. 

            "She was looking for a pair of shoes in my closet and she stumbled across the box. She saw Mulder's name on the certificate..." she replied, sniffling back tears. "I've really screwed up."

            "Is she angry?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be. 

            "She's furious with me. She didn't even give me a chance to explain the circumstances," Dana replied, nervously playing with the crucifix that hung around her neck.

            "I don't know how much happier she'll be once she learns the truth. Especially when she finds out that Mulder doesn't know that she exists. But you need to tell her, Dana. We both owe it to her to tell her the truth," Dave said. His rationality almost made her angry. He was always calm and level-headed when a problem presented itself... well a problem outside their relationship with one another. Relationship problems were something else entirely.

            "I know that, _David._ It's not like I can just walk into her room and say, 'Oh by the way, Liv, your real father was almost married to someone else when I got pregnant with you...'" She heard a door slam upstairs, and her daughter hurried down the staircase. "Liv, where are you going?" Dana asked, stepping toward the front door. Liv froze, and her hand rested on the doorknob.

            "To see Grandma. Is that a problem?" she quipped coldly. 

            "No," her mother replied quietly. "Dinner's at seven." 

            "I'm eating at Katie's," Olivia replied, her crystal blue eyes sparking. Dana only nodded, and her daughter stepped out onto the porch, slamming the door hard enough to knock a framed picture of the two of them off the wall. Pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder, Dana padded softly over to the picture and lifted it from the floor, noticing the crack in the glass which seemed to pass through the middle of the picture, effectively separating them. She sighed. How symbolic this was of the rift that had formed between the two people who were once each other's best friends. 

            "Dana? Dana are you still there?" Dave asked. 

            "Yeah," she replied, tiredly. "I'm still here."

            "Was that Liv?" 

            "You bet. She's going to see my mother," Dana said. "I'm sorry, Dave. I have to go." She hung up the phone before he finished saying goodbye, and then slammed it down on the counter. Running her hand over her face, she tried to calm her racing heart as the memories of the past started to creep in.

~*~

            Maggie Skinner stood in the kitchen, her mind other places as she waited for the tap to run cold so she could fill Olivia's glass of water. She had always known the time would come when Liv would learn of her father, but she had hoped it would not happen this way. She had hoped that one night Dana and Dave would sit Liv down and explain the situation to her in a rational matter, and that though she would be upset at first, she would understand that everything happened for a reason. She wasn't expecting this. She could still remember the day that her daughter came to her with the news that she was pregnant. 

            _Dana opened the door to her apartment and welcomed her mother inside. Maggie smiled at her and gave her a quick hug. Though she would never admit it, the first thing she noticed about her daughter was that she had gained weight. Her face looked heavier than it had the last time she'd seen her. _

_            "Do you need any help with dinner?" she asked._

_             Dana offered her a smile and said, "No thanks, Mom. It's all done. I just have to put it on the table." She disappeared into the kitchen and returned carrying a plate of chicken cutlets and a bowl of green beans. After setting them down on the table, she returned with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Maggie's eyes widened at the sight of all of the food being set before her. _

_            "My goodness, Dana...so much food... who else is joining us for dinner?" she asked. Her daughter blushed. _

_            "Um... no one, Mom. It's just us this evening," she replied, sinking gracefully into her chair across from her mother. _

_            "The food looks wonderful, sweetheart," Maggie said, sensing the silence becoming awkward. Dana mumbled her thanks and then took a deep breath. _

_            "Mom, I'm pregnant," she said quickly. Maggie looked up quickly from her plate, and was so taken by surprise that she dropped her fork. _

_            "Oh my," she said, unable to gather her thoughts at first. "That's wonderful news!" She beamed at her daughter, and Dana managed a smile back. "But I didn't think you were seeing anyone?" Her daughter's smile disappeared. _

_            "Not any longer," she replied quietly, silently praying that she wouldn't cry. _

_            "Oh," Maggie said, looking down at her plate. "Well when are you due?" she queried, raising her gaze to study her daughter again. Dana kept her eyes on her plate and pushed her food around as she spoke. _

_            "February 2nd... I'm three months along." Thinking back to three months prior, Maggie's eyes widened. _

_            "Does Fox know?" Her daughter's head snapped up, and her eyes were wide with shock and full of unshed tears. _

_            "How did you...?"_

_            "It's written all over your face, sweetheart... and that was around the last time I saw you two together..." Maggie replied gently. _

_            "Yes, the baby is Mulder's..." her daughter conceded. "But he doesn't know." _

_            "Do you mind if I ask why you haven't told him?" Dana actually _did_ mind, but she knew that her mother wanted an answer. _

_            "We were arguing a lot before he left. He started seeing someone else." Maggie couldn't keep the shock out of her expression. "Don't look so shocked, Mom. Mulder and I had been getting more and more distant, and when Skinner closed the X-Files it was the final nudge needed to send our ships in opposite directions, and his ship took him to __England__..." _

            "Grandma?" The sound of Olivia's voice brought Maggie back to the present. 

            "Just a second, Livvy," she said quietly. Filling the glass with a significant amount of water, she shut off the tap and returned to the living room, walking through the wispy remains of her memories. 

            "What do you know about him, Grandma? About my real dad?" Liv asked, sipping her water. _Where do you want me to start?_ Maggie thought. 

            "What would you like me to tell you?" she asked, studying her daughter's daughter... her only granddaughter. 

            "I don't know... um... is he nice? Do I look like him at all? Was he good to my mom?" Olivia asked, taking a sip of her water. 

            "I haven't spoken to him in some time, but he was such a wonderful person. He cared so much for your mother; he would've sacrificed anything for her," Maggie said, smiling as a feeling of nostalgia overtook her. "I knew they loved each other before either of them could admit it. It was in the way they looked at one another; the way they acted; the simple touches. It was all there, but it took a near-death experience for them to realize how much they loved one another." Liv's eyebrow went up--an inherited Scully trait. 

            "A near-death experience?" she queried, setting her glass down and leaning closer to her grandmother. 

            "I don't know if you know this, but they worked together at the FBI..." Maggie began. 

            "Mom said something about working with 'Mulder' once, but then she stopped, like she'd said too much... I had wondered why it bothered her so much then, but now I understand why..." Liv said, a tear appearing in the corner of her eye. Her grandmother gently squeezed her hand.

            "Well, they had worked together for almost six years when it happened, with nothing resembling a sane admission of love from one to the other," Maggie paused, smiling at her granddaughter. "Your mother's line of work in the FBI was really rather bizarre. She worked in a division called the 'X-Files', which Fox founded. They investigated the paranormal. Your mother was assigned to work with him initially to use her science to debunk his work, but her science actually ended up reinforcing his findings rather than damning him. 

            "Their work forced them to spend a lot of time together, and they bonded as they did. I remember once that your mother told me that she and Fox were best friends, and nothing more. But like I said before, it was in the way they looked at one another. But back to their near-death experience....

            "Your fa-- Fox," she quickly corrected herself. "... He believed that he had discovered a conspiracy involving the government, and some lethal substance, which they referred to as the 'black oil'. I'm still fuzzy on the details, because even though your mother, Fox and your Grandfather all explained the situation to me, I have a hard time understanding how it's possible. But to make a _very_ long story short, your mother was kicked off the X-Files and reassigned to Salt Lake City, Utah. She went to see your father to tell him that she was quitting the Bureau rather than accepting the transfer, and he told her all the ways that she had been good for him, and that she had saved him. He told her how much she meant to him, and what she would tell me what that there were some tears shed, and that they almost kissed when she got stung by a bee carrying an alien virus..." 

            "A bee... carrying... an alien virus?" Liv queried, her eyes as big as saucers.

            "Yes," Maggie said with a sigh. "You heard me correctly. The bees were carrying a version of the lethal virus in the 'black oil', and had a reaction that shut her body down. Fox called for an ambulance, but the call was intercepted by men working against him, and they transported her body to another facility, but not before shooting him in the side of the head and leaving him for dead in the street." Liv's eyes grew wider still.

            "The real ambulance came and found him, transporting him to a nearby hospital, where he awoke and insisted on going after your mom. He took your Uncle John's clothes and snuck out with Ringo and Mel. He somehow got a vaccine and a location where your mother was being held... in Antarctica. He flew there immediately and his Snow-Cat ran out of gas, so he went off on foot in search of her. 

            "He found her inside what looked like a research facility but was actually an alien craft. After injecting her with the vaccine, he dressed her in his coat and snow pants and brought her up to the surface. And then their two stories differ a little bit. You see, Fox says that he saw the craft rise up out of the snow, and fly away, and he insists that your mother saw it too, but _she_ insists that she was unconscious."  Liv smiled at that. Her mother was skeptical about everything, and she could imagine her denying something of that nature. "Skinner sent a search team out for them, and brought them back to the States. Your mom woke up first, and insisted on seeing him. They wheeled her into his room, and she sat beside his bed until he woke up, and when he was coherent, she used all of her strength to get up out of her wheel chair and I walked into the room just as she said something about 'finishing what was started in the hallway' and then she kissed him. 

            "They finally admitted that they loved one another after that," Maggie said. 

            "Does she still love him?" Liv asked. 

            "I don't know, sweetheart. I would think that she might... it hurt her so badly when he left," she replied, looking down at her hands. 

            "I can't believe she kept so much from me," Liv said, her voice permeated with quiet anger. "Everything I knew is a lie." 

            "Livvy, you can't think of it that way. Your mother only kept these things from your because she didn't want you to be hurt by the truth, or ashamed of it."

            "Do I look like him?" Liv asked looking at her grandmother, almost ignoring the woman's last statement. 

            "You do. You've got his nose, and he's the reason your hair is so dark... I have a picture of him if you'd like to see it," she said, already rising off the couch. Olivia only nodded, feeling her palms grow sweaty. She was nervous. In a matter of moments, she would see a picture of her father-- someone she hadn't know existed until this afternoon. Her grandmother disappeared and then reappeared a few moments later holding a photograph. Without a word she handed it to Liv. The teenager, who was still feeling shell-shocked, accepted the photo and studied it. She was surprised at first to see her mother in the photo with him... she expected for it to be a single shot of her father. She was even more surprised to see her mother wearing a smile-- a truly genuine one. Studying her father, Liv was astonished. He was nothing like she imagined, except for the nose. In the photo, her father had her mother in his arms. She was looking up at him and smiling, and he was laughing as he cradled her effortlessly. He was wearing a sky blue dress shirt and matching tie with black dress pants, and her mother had on a lavender dress and was holding a bouquet of roses. 

            "Your Uncle Charlie took that picture," Maggie said, anticipating Liv's impending questions. "It was taken the day your grandfather and I got married, at the reception. Your mother caught the bouquet, and Fox got the garter. He decided that since they were, in theory, the next ones to be married, he would practice carrying her over the threshold." 

            "What happened between them?" Liv asked, looking into her grandmother's eyes. 

            "That's not for me to say, sweetheart," Maggie said. 

            "Where is he now?" Liv asked. 

            "Teaching in England-- at Oxford." 

            "Thanks, Grandma. I-um-I'm gonna go talk to my mom..." 

            "Okay, Livvy. Oh, and keep the photo," she said, embracing Liv tightly.

            She buttoned her jacket against the February chill as she bounded down the front steps, nearly colliding with her grandfather in the process. 

            "Hi Liv," Walter Skinner said, smiling at his rambunctious granddaughter as she flew past him. 

            "Hi Grandpa," she replied. "Bye Grandpa!" He shook his head as he watched her climb the steps of her own porch just next door, taking them in twos. He never _would_ understand teenagers. 

-------x-------

Author's Note: Teehee, the end of the Scully/Other. :-D


	4. Part IV

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given 

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

-------x-------

Dana sat at her desk, trying to grade the essays of her Biology students, but found that her mind was not on mitosis. She had been staring at the same essay for over an hour. She heard the door slam downstairs, and looked up from her work. Glancing at her watch, she found that it was ten minutes to seven. Not even bothering to get out of her chair, she sat and listened to her daughter as she thundered up the stairs. 

            "Mom?" Liv called loudly. "Mom, where are you?"

            "In my office, Liv," she yelled back, finally rising out of her chair. As she stepped into the hallway, all ninety pounds of her five-foot-one-inch daughter were thrown upon her in a hug. 

            "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't give you a chance to explain to me what happened between you and my father..." she said hurriedly as she clung to her mother, who was too stunned to respond at first. Liv let go of Dana, and said, "Can you forgive me?" 

            "Oh sweetie, I'm the one who should be apologizing," she replied. "I kept so much from you all these years. I'm ashamed of myself, and you have every right to be mad at me." 

            "Grandma explained to me that you were going to tell me, and that you kept it from me to protect me and keep me from being ashamed. But now, if you don't mind telling me... I want to know all about him. And..." she paused, pulling the photo from her pocket. "And I was wondering what happened between the two of you. Grandma said you were so happy...." Dana accepted the picture from her daughter and studied it with a smile. She examined the details for a moment, remembering that moment, and the feel of Mulder's arms.

            "You want to know everything?" she queried. Liv nodded. Dana sighed, and said, "Alright then. I'll make some hot chocolate. This is gonna be a long one...

            "Mulder and I met a long time ago, when I was assigned to him as his new partner at work. We hated each other at first- I thought he was a crackpot and he thought I was a spy," Dana said as she entered the living room with two steaming mugs of cocoa. She handed one to Liv, and then sank into the couch beside her. 

            "A spy? Really?" Her mother nodded. 

            "Yeah. I was put on to use my science to debunk his work in the paranormal... which didn't happen. It just verified his findings and made his beliefs stronger. Eventually we grew to trust one another, and we became best friends. It wasn't until we'd been partners for almost six years that we admitted that we loved one another," she said. "Did your grandmother tell you about Antarctica?" 

            "Yup." 

            "Alright, then I can skip ahead a bit. It was about six months after that whole ordeal that your grandma and Walter, who was then my boss, got married. And I take it that your grandmother also explained the picture to you then, right?" Liv nodded. Her mother nodded as well and then continued. 

            "That night, your father asked me to marry him--" Liv gasped. 

            "God, Mom, what did you say?!" she asked, staring wide-eyed at Dana. 

            "I said yes, of course. I mean, he had a ring for me, but I couldn't wear it. The FBI forbade inter-office relationships, and the fact that we had even been _dating_ was endangering our jobs. We decided that we would get married, but we had to wait a while and decide what we were going to do about work," she said, looking over at Liv, who was twirling her hair around her finger absentmindedly as she listened intently.

            "It was during that time that my doctor told me that I was barren--totally incapable of conceiving, carrying and giving birth to my own child. It hit me really hard, and it hit your father hard too. My doctor sent me to an infertility specialist, who told me that I might be able to get pregnant through in-vitro fertilization. I went through a series of treatments before they did the actual procedure, where they would inject me with synthetic hormones to try to get mine balanced out again, and maybe get my body functioning the way it was supposed to. Once they actually did the procedure Mulder and I waited anxiously for two weeks until they could see if the procedure had worked; if I was pregnant." Liv nodded. Her mother had always been honest with her about her fertility problems, and often told her what a miracle she was. That was also the reason Liv was an only child; no matter what Dana and Dave had tried, they couldn't have children. 

            "The results came back negative, and the doctor explained that there were no other viable alternatives. Your father and I were devastated; I thought I would never have a child of my own," Dana said, her eyes flooding with tears at the painful memory. 

            "I still don't know how it happened, Liv. I don't know what caused us to drift apart, but we started fighting more frequently after that. I think it was what we both went through after the in-vitro failed. It tore us apart. When they Bureau shut down the X-Files and reassigned us, it was the final straw. I refused to accept a transfer and quit the FBI altogether. When I told your father, he flipped out on me. He told me that he couldn't believe that I quit and didn't even try to fight it. We got into a huge argument, and both said some things that we shouldn't have. We didn't speak for almost three months after that. 

            "The next time he called, it was to tell me that he was engaged to an old girlfriend from college, a woman named Jessica Coolidge, and that he was moving to England with her. I went to say goodbye to him, and we wound up spending the evening reminiscing over some wine and a bad Sci-Fi movie, and well...things happened..." Dana's cheeks flushed slightly, and Liv smiled at her. 

            "Mom, you _can_ say the word 'sex' in front of me, you know. We had the 'birds and the bees' talk when I was fourteen. I can handle it," she said, laughing slightly. Dana laughed too.

            "Well, like I said, _things_ happened, and we said our goodbyes. He left for England the next morning, and it wasn't until a month later that I learned that I was pregnant with you. As much as I wanted to tell him the news and have him come rushing home, I didn't want to ruin his life with Jessica. They were happy like we had been once, and I didn't want to chance things going bad between them. So I resolved to raise you on my own, and when the time was right I assured myself I would tell Mulder the truth."

            "But you couldn't ever bring yourself to do it?" Liv asked, sipping her cocoa. Her mother shook her head. 

            "No. I think meeting Dave had something to do with that," she said, quietly. "I wasn't so alone anymore. I wrote letters until you were about five years old, but after that; I kind of just... stopped. I hadn't spoken to him in so long, I didn't even know if he still lived in England, or if he and Jessica had kids. I lost my nerve totally, and gave up on the idea of ever talking to him again. It was terrible of me to keep you from him, and him from you, but life was so complicated... I didn't know what to do..." Liv set her mug down and hugged her mother, who was crying silent tears. 

            "Do you still love him?" Liv asked, not releasing her hold on her mom. There was no hesitation before Dana replied, 

            "Yes. More that I've ever loved anyone else. He has my heart."

-------x-------

Author's Notes: Umm, it's gonna be a long time before the next chapter is up, because I'm having a hard time writing it. Well, I hope you liked this one. Leave a review to tell me what you thought!


	5. Part V

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part V

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

-------x-------

            "--and these are just a few symptoms of schizophrenia," Professor Fox Mulder said, using his laser pointer to direct his class's attention to a spot on the notes which were projected onto the screen behind him. "The first symptom--" He was cut off as the bell rang and the students got up out of their seats, quickly emptying the room. He sighed and shook his head. He turned off his overhead projector and opened the bottom drawer of his desk, retrieving his lunch. As he left the lecture hall, he didn't notice the petite girl with dark auburn hair as she followed him out of the room. He reached his office just down the hallway and fished around in his pocket for the keys to unlock the door. It was then that he noticed the girl, who hung back, watching him timidly.

            "Yes? Can I help you?" he asked, turning around. He watched as her face paled several shades and she said, 

            "Are-are you Mr. Mulder?"

            "Yes. My conference hours are listed in the lecture hall and the cafeteria. You can come see me then," he said, opening his door. He had almost closed it again when Liv caught it with her hand, keeping a firm grasp on it. Mulder wheeled around to look at her, wondering what the hell this student was doing. 

            "You're out of line, young lady," he said, his eyes flashing with anger. 

            "I'm not a student, Mr. Mulder...I'm your daughter..." This one knocked him for a loop. 

            "Excuse me?" he said, dropping his briefcase to the floor. "Is this some sort of joke?" Liv cringed as he rounded on her.  She shook her head, and he studied her, realizing that she _did_ look too young to be a student. 

            "No...I'm your daughter..." she offered her birth certificate with a shaking hand. He took it and studied it for a moment, and his eyes widened. 

            "Come inside, please," he said quickly, opening the door to his office. "This isn't a discussion I want to have in the hallway." Liv followed him inside, and he calmly walked around and sat behind his desk, and motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him. Liv sank into the chair, and watched Mulder as he ran a hand over his face and studied her birth certificate. 

            "Why now?" he asked. "If you really are my daughter, why come to me now?"

            "I just found out that you're my real dad. I stumbled across that yesterday," she said, pointing to her birth certificate. "My mom hadn't told me yet. I found that in a box in her closet."

            "How do I know that this isn't a fake? In this day and age anyone can fake almost any document..."

            "I-um-found it in a box in her closet with these-" she handed him a few of the letters from her mother to him--the ones she never sent. "And my Grandma Maggie gave me this." She handed Mulder the photo of her mother and him. 

            "January 16th..." he said, reading her date of birth. He counted backwards, and she could see that he felt the dates didn't add up. 

            "I was born seventeen days early. I was supposed to be born on February 2nd," Liv said. "Mom says that I was conceived the night before you left to come here." His eyes widened. 

            "My God," Mulder said quietly. "You're my daughter."

            "Hi Dad," Liv said quietly. 

            "You look like your mother," he said, analyzing her features. She looked like Scully--the thought brought back torrents of memories. 

            "Yeah, but I got your nose," she responded. 

            "I have a daughter. Olivia Paige," he said. "How did you get here? Is your mother with you?" Liv shook her head. 

            "No... she um--she doesn't know that I left. I kind of just took all the money I had saved up... and some of hers--" she looked mildly ashamed at the last part. "And bought a ticket to come here. I knew you taught here, and I knew your name and your face-- I just had to put it all together and find you." Mulder was still awestruck, and only shook his head as he studied the picture of himself and Scully. 

            "Why didn't she tell me?" he thought aloud. "I would've come home in a heartbeat if she had told me she was pregnant..."

            "That was what she was afraid of. She didn't want to ruin your life or your marriage by bringing a baby into your life. She wanted you to be happy with Jessica..." Mulder laughed sordidly, surprising Liv. 

            "I don't think Jessica and I were ever truly happy. We were only married for five months before she left me," he said. "I've been the 'miserable Psych professor' ever since." A silence settled over them and Mulder said, 

            "Listen, Liv-- is it alright if I call you Liv?" His daughter nodded in response. "Well, I have one more lecture to give after my lunch break ends, and then what do you say I'll take you back to my place and we'll get a hold of your mom? I'll bet she's worried sick right now..." 

            "Sure," Liv replied, smiling brightly in response. This meant that her mother and father had to talk, and she hoped they would reconcile. It was going to be an interesting day or two, that's for sure.

-------x-------

            Maggie Scully was frantically pacing her home in a state of panic. Her husband was down at FBI Headquarters with her daughter as they procured a manhunt for her granddaughter, who had seemingly disappeared overnight. The phone rang and she dashed to it, hoping it would be someone telling her that they had found Liv. She got the surprise of her life when she answered it. 

            "Hello?" she asked, tearfully. 

            "Mrs. Skinner?" God, she thought, she knew that voice. 

            "Yes?"

            "Maggie, hi, it's Fox Mulder." She thought for a moment that her heart stopped. 

            "Fox? Oh my God, it's been so long. How are you?" 

            "I'm fine Maggie...I tried to call Dana, but there was no answer at her house..." he said. 

            "She's down at FBI Headquarters with Walter. I'm sorry Fox, but this isn't a very good time.." Maggie said, worrying that she might be missing a call from Dana. 

            "That's why I called. Olivia's here with me, Maggie. She's in England." 

            "What?! Oh my goodness, she's in _England_?! Is she alright?" 

            "Yes, she's fine; I tried to call Dana and tell her." 

            "I'll call to Headquarters and tell Walter to call off the manhunt for her and have all television stations pull the Amber Alerts..." Mulder's eyes widened. 

            "Oh Christ, they've started a _manhunt_?" Sitting on his couch, Liv cringed. When her mother got a hold of her, she was as good as dead.

            "Just give me your phone number and I'll have Dana call you, although I'm sure she'll be on the next available flight out there anyway..." Mulder gave Maggie his number, including the Country Code and then said his goodbyes. Turning to Liv he said, 

            "Your mother's going to kill the two of us..."

-------x-------

A/N: So I lied, LOL. I sat down and forced my muse the other night, and WHAMMO this just kinda worked for me! I hope you like it, but either way, make sure to review to tell me what you think! There will be one or two more chapters, I suppose, but we'll see how things go!


	6. Part VI

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part VI

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

**Author's Notes**: Just in case anyone was still confused, both Scully and Mulder are divorced. In chapter three, I called Dave Scully's 'ex-husband', and Mulder's divorce is mentioned in chapter five. Hope that helps clear things up, and I'm sorry if it confused anyone!

-------x------

Mulder...Olivia...England...Manhunt...Mulder...Olivia...Oxford...Mulder...Divorced...Olivia...Mulder...Olivia....Mulder....Mulder....Olivia...Dana's mind was racing as she sat on her American Airlines flight bound for England. She hardly heard the attendant as she told her to fasten her seatbelt. Bracing herself as she always did for plane landings, she said a quick prayer and made the Sign of the Cross. The plane touched down on the runway, and she breathed a sigh of relief. 

            Standing by the luggage carousel, Dana watched as her suitcase appeared, and grabbed it, heading toward the doors that faced the street. She had been relieved that Liv was okay, but she was terribly anxious about seeing Mulder. It was apparent that he now knew that they had a daughter, and that she had kept this from him for all these years. As she neared the doors, she saw her daughter, and took off at a run, dragging her suitcase behind her. Mulder's eyes widened when he saw the virtually unchanged Dana Scully running toward their daughter. She dropped her suitcase and wrapped her arms around Liv. 

            "Olivia Paige Hollister, don't you ever do that to me again," she said sternly, though tears streamed down her cheeks and into Liv's hair. 

            "I'm sorry, Mom," she whispered to her mother, clinging to her tightly. Dana released her grasp on Liv and then looked up at Mulder. She fought hard to keep her tears from falling as she thought of the terrible thing she had done by keeping Olivia from him all these years. 

            "Hi, Mulder," she said, quietly. He smiled at her, and said, 

            "Hi, Scully." She smiled then--she had missed having him call her that. "We do beautiful work, don't we?" he continued quietly, hugging Liv. Her face crumpled, and she covered her eyes with her hand. 

            "God, Mulder, I'm so sorry," she said, almost sobbing. He put a hand on her shoulder, and said, 

            "Not here. We'll talk about it back at my place." She wiped her eyes, and Liv watched with mild amusement as Mulder hesitated momentarily before placing his open palm on her mother's lower back as they walked out to the curb toward his car. 

            The ride was an hour long from the airport to Mulder's flat near the Oxford campus, and Liv's jet-lag and lack of sleep finally caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep in the back seat of the car five minutes after they left the terminal. 

            "Mulder, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am," Dana said quietly. Mulder reached over and took her hand in his. 

            "Liv explained to me why you didn't tell me--that you were trying to save my marriage. But you -uh- you really didn't have to worry about that. I doubt that Jessica and I were _ever_ happy," he said with mirthless laughter. 

            "Oh Mulder, I'm sorry..." Scully replied. 

            "She left me about six months after we got married. She said I was too involved in myself, and that I didn't love her. That wasn't totally untrue... I _was_ self-involved and though I loved her, I wasn't _in love_ with her. She knew that, and she had every right to leave," he said nonchalantly. 

            "Oh," she replied, unsure of what else to say. "I'm sorry." He shrugged. 

            "Don't be. I've never seen myself as marriage material anyway," he said, keeping his eyes on the road. 

            "So," she began. "How have you been?" 

            "I'm alright," he said. "Teaching has kept me busy. My students all think I'm crazy." She smiled. 

            "Telling them stories about aliens and tractor beams were you?" 

            "Scully you know 'tractor beams' are a Hollywood thing..." He said, grinning at her. She smiled back. It was almost like old times. _Almost._

            He parked the car and Dana looked up at the impressive building before them. Made of brick, it had certain Victorian touches in its architecture. As she studied the building, Mulder opened the rear door of his car, and gently shook Liv's shoulder. 

            "C'mon, sweetheart. Time to wake up," he said. She sleepily opened her eyes and said, 

            "Where are we?" 

            "Back at my flat, Liv. You just have to walk upstairs, and then you can go to sleep," he said. She nodded, and he aided her as she climbed out of the car. He helped Liv walk and said, 

            "C'mon Scully, this way." She followed him into the lobby and then the elevator. They rode to the tenth floor, and when he opened the door, Dana nearly laughed out of relief. The sight of his disheveled apartment proved to her that he was definitely the very same Mulder that she knew so many years ago. He saw that she was laughing, and said, 

            "What?" 

            She smiled. "If I didn't know any better, I would think we were still in Arlington." He grinned back at her, and then guided Eve to the guest room, and she climbed into bed and was almost instantly asleep again. Mulder closed the door as he returned to the living room, and they really looked at each other for the first time. He stepped up to her. 

            "It's been a long time, Scully..." he said, slipping his coat off. Dana did the same, and responded, 

            "Yes it has." He hadn't changed all that much, physically, she thought. The only visible difference was the evident gray hairs at his temples. He was forty-six--she shuddered. That reminded her that she would turn forty-three in a few weeks. 

            "Can we talk?" he asked. She swallowed. 

            "Sure," she said, quietly. He sank into his couch, and Dana sank down beside him. He noted that she hadn't really changed much. He could see the stray grays in her hair, and he could see developing crow's feet at the corners of her eyes, but she was still beautiful. He knew he'd never stopped loving her, and as she sat beside him waiting for him to speak, she knew the very same thing. 

            "How many months pregnant were you when we spoke the last time?" he asked. She tucked her legs under her and turned toward him, resting her arm on the back of the couch. 

            "About three," she said. 

            "I wish I had known," he said. "I would've loved to cater to your pregnancy cravings." He smiled at her, but Dana's eyes pooled with tears. 

            "You don't know how badly I wanted you to be there--"

            "Why didn't you tell me, Dana? I would've been there in a heartbeat and never looked back..." Mulder said, taking her hand in his. Dana choked back tears. 

            "Don't you get it, Mulder? That's exactly why I _couldn't_ tell you! You were married, and I couldn't have you leaving your wife to run home to me. You cheated on her with me, and the minute she found out I was pregnant she would have known. It would've ruined your marriage. I couldn't be responsible for that," she said. There was a tremble in her voice, though she tried to remain calm. 

            "Why did we stop talking?" he asked. "Do you remember?"

            "We were on different paths, I suppose. Our ships 'sailed in different directions', so to speak.  We just stopped calling," she replied. 

            There were several moments of silence, and then Mulder said, "I still have it." Dana looked at him questioningly. 

            "You still have what?"

            "The ring I gave you," he replied quietly. 

            "You kept it? God, I would've thought you'd thrown it away," she said. He shook his head, and reached under the collar of his shirt, and pulled out a gold chain. Dana could see the ring. Her eyes widened. 

            "You've worn it?" she whispered. 

            "Only for the past fifteen years," he replied, honestly. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her mouth hung open slightly. 

            "Oh, Mulder... we've wasted so much time," she said, squeezing his hand. 

            "I know," he replied, solemnly. 

            "Is it too late to start again?" she asked, fearing his response. 

            "I don't think so. I don't think it's ever too late," Mulder replied. Then his expression brightened. "If we're going to start this over again, we're going to do it the right way." He extended his hand to her and said, "Fox Mulder." 

            She smiled and shook his hand. "Dana Scully." That was appropriate, she thought. It had been 'Scully' for some time now since the divorce, but she had opted to go with 'Hollister' because she found herself writing it whenever her signature was necessary. 

            "Well, Ms. Scully, would you like to join me for dinner tomorrow evening?" he queried.

            "Gladly, Mr. Mulder," she said, smiling. They were silent for a number of moments, and then Mulder squeezed her hand and asked, 

            "Will you tell me about Dave?"

-------x------

Author's Notes: Hope you like it! Read & Review, please!


	7. Part VII

Title: Lies Once Told, Love Once Given: Part VII

Author: Gillian Leigh

Summary: A teenage girl's world falls apart, and her mother's begins to fall back together.

Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them for the duration... using them as puppets to act out my insane plots... Please don't sue!!!

Author's Notes: This is the shortest chapter of them all, but it's the last one!! I finished this and was ready to start writing another paper when I realized that I had finished this one without knowing it! Okay, a few minor things: the thing about Concord Jets--yeah I just totally made it up, LOL. And a big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and review!

-------x-------

            Liv sighed, for the fifth time in two minutes, and Dana looked over at her. 

            "What is it?" she asked. 

            "This is so screwed up, Mom," Liv responded. "Why did we leave if you still love my dad?" 

            "It's complicated, Liv." 

            "I'm all ears, Mom. Explain it." Dana raised her eyebrows at her daughter. 

            "I don't know that it's really any of your business," she replied. Liv was growing angry, as was Dana. 

            "He's my _dad_ and I want to know why we're not even attempting the 'big happy family' thing," she replied hotly. "So I'm _making_ it my business." 

            "It's not that we're not trying to work things out, _Olivia_," she replied, emphasizing her daughter's given name out of anger. "It's just that he's got his life there, and ours is here. We have jobs and responsibilities, and we can't just abandon them. And besides, we're not even sure what we want to make of our present situation. It's been a long time, and it's very complicated." Liv rolled her eyes as her mother unlocked the front door and pushed it open. 

            "Whatever. I'm gonna call Dad and tell him that we got home safe." They were both startled by Mulder's voice as he emerged from the living room. 

            "Message received," he said, and both women jumped. 

            "Mulder?" Dana queried, trying to keep her jaw off the floor. 

            "Dad!" Liv yelled, running toward him. She hugged him tightly. Still shocked and surprised at his presence, Dana unceremoniously dropped her suitcase and continued to gape at the man standing in her living room. 

            "How...?"

            "Concord Jets. They cut flight time in half," he replied, kissing the top of Liv's head. 

            "Forgive me for how this is going to sound, Mulder, but what the hell are you doing here?" 

            "I took a sabbatical from teaching. We can't start all over again if I'm in England and you and Liv are an ocean away," Mulder responded, releasing Liv and stepping over to Dana. 

            "Does that mean you're going to stay here?" Liv asked, watching as her mother and father stood just under a foot apart. 

            "It's a possibility... I've got a year to decide what I'm doing, and I've got something in mind to start with." He reached up and unhooked the chain around his neck. "I have to say, Scully, that this ring would look far better on you than it does on me." Her eyes widened. 

            "Are you proposing to me?" she asked. Liv watched with bated breath. 

            "Well that depends on if you'd say yes or if you'd--" Both Mulder and Liv were very surprised when his speech was cut short when Dana threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. 

            "...And that would be a yes," Liv responded, her face morphing into a wide grin. Three days ago, she had believed that her world was ending, but now she understood that it had been only the beginning. 

-x-the end-x-


End file.
